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“I basically came into the music industry as a nobody. So I really looked at The Professional as a big opportunity that I had to make the most of if I wanted to go further. It meant a lot for DJ Clue to take me under his wing. Everything he did for me came from just him believing in my talent because Clue really didn’t know me from anywhere. The people that brought me to him were distant friends of his. They didn’t grow up with him, so I always valued our friendship and what we did together because of who Clue was already at that point. This was somebody who was working with platinum artists. And still Clue treated me the same way as an established artist and took time to nurture me.

Clue used his platform, which was at the time mixtapes, to build my career. That’s a shaky thing because you have to make sure that the person you are co-signing is worthy of that platform or else it could leave a stain on your career. So I looked at Clue making me his first artist as something I will always appreciate. From the start, there was a few times that I had gotten with some people in the music business and it didn’t pan out to anything. So, The Professional project was my make or break moment. That’s the way I looked at it coming in. I looked at it a little deeper than just the average 18-year-old at that time.

I wasn’t nervous to be on a track with Foxy Brown and Mase. I was just trying to live up to even being in this situation with those guys. Foxy at the time was becoming legendary as far as being a female MC. And Mase had a lot of success with his whole solo career. I just wanted to be in the same shoes as those two. If I wouldn’t have sounded like I could fit in, Clue would not have kept me on [“That’s The Way”].